Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial (e.g. woodlice, sandhoppers), some are parasitic (e.g. Rhizocephala, fish lice, tongue worms) and some are sessile (e.g. barnacles). The group has an extensive fossil record, reaching back to the Cambrian. More than 7.9 million tons of crustaceans per year are harvested by fishery or farming for human consumption, consisting mostly of shrimp and prawns. Krill and copepods are not as widely fished, but may be the animals with the greatest biomass on the planet, and form a vital part of the food chain. The scientific study of crustaceans is known as carcinology (alternatively, malacostracology, crustaceology or crustalogy), and a scientist who works in carcinology is a carcinologist.

The body of a crustacean is composed of segments, which are grouped into three regions: the cephalon or head, the pereon or thorax, and the pleon or abdomen. The head and thorax may be fused together to form a cephalothorax, which may be covered by a single large carapace. The crustacean body is protected by the hard exoskeleton, which must be moulted for the animal to grow. The shell around each somite can be divided into a dorsal tergum, ventral sternum and a lateral pleuron. Various parts of the exoskeleton may be fused together.

The name "crustacean" dates from the earliest works to describe the animals, including those of Pierre Belon and Guillaume Rondelet, but the name was not used by some later authors, including Carl Linnaeus, who included crustaceans among the "Aptera" in his Systema Naturae. The earliest nomenclatural valid work to use the name "Crustacea" was Morten Thrane Brünnich's Zoologiæ Fundamenta in 1772, although he also included chelicerates in the group.

The traditional classification of Crustacea based on morphology recognised four to six classes. Bowman and Abele (1982) recognised 652 extant families and 38 orders, organised into six classes: Branchiopoda, Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Maxillopoda, Ostracoda, and Malacostraca. Martin and Davis (2001) updated this classification, retaining the six classes but including 849 extant families in 42 orders. Despite outlining the evidence that Maxillopoda was non-monophyletic, they retained it as one of the six classes, although did suggest that Maxillipoda could be replaced by elevating its subclasses to classes. Since then phylogenetic studies have confirmed the polyphyly of Maxillopoda and the paraphyletic nature of Crustacea with respect to Hexapoda. Recent classifications recognise ten to twelve classes in Crustacea or Pancrustacea, with several former maxillopod subclasses now recognised as classes (e.g. Thecostraca, Tantulocarida, Mystacocarida, Copepoda, Branchiura and Pentastomida).

Many crustaceans are consumed by humans, and nearly 10,700,000 tons were harvested in 2007; the vast majority of this output is of decapod crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp, crayfish, langoustine and prawns. Over 60% by weight of all crustaceans caught for consumption are shrimp and prawns, and nearly 80% is produced in Asia, with China alone producing nearly half the world's total. Non-decapod crustaceans are not widely consumed, with only 118,000 tons of krill being caught, despite krill having one of the greatest biomasses on the planet. Krill are, however, a speciality in China and Japan and are used pickled in Korea. They are also consumed in Artic regions and are being introduced to new consumers as fusion recipes using frozen and tinned krill. Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes pollicipes) are a speciality of Spanish cuisine (recipes including krill and gooseneck barnacles can be found in the links below). The Pacific goose barnacle, Pollicipes elegans is also consumed, particularly in Alaska. The Japanese goose barnacle, Capitulum mitella is eaten in Japan. The Chilean giant barnacle or picoroco (Austromegabalanus psittacus) is routinely fished for food. Woodlice are sometimes consumed by foragers. Dried prawns (locally known as crawfish) are used as a flavouring and thickener in West African stews.

The alphabetical list of all the Crustacean-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 671 recipes in total:

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Jamaican Rum Prawns      Origin: Jamaica	Korean-inspired Pollock Stew with Gochujang and Wild Greens      Origin: Korea	Lobster Sauce      Origin: Britain
Jamaican Seafood Soup      Origin: Jamaica	Kouti (Cassava Croquettes)      Origin: Guinea	Lobster Sauce for Fish      Origin: Britain
Jambo (Okra Soup)      Origin: Bonaire	Kräftskiva (Swedish Crayfish Boil)      Origin: Sweden	Lobster with Lemon      Origin: Senegal
Jambo (Okra Soup)      Origin: Curacao	Krain Krain (Jute Leaf Stew)      Origin: Sierra Leone	Locusta Elixa cum Cuminato (Boiled Lobster with Cumin Sauce)      Origin: Roman
Javaanse Bami      Origin: Suriname	Kreooli krabi-kotletid (Dominican Creole Crab Cakes)      Origin: Dominica	Locustam et Scillas (Lobsters and Prawns)      Origin: Roman
Javanese Sambal Bajak (Javanese Hot Sauce)      Origin: Indonesia	Kriibsen (Crayfish, Luxembourg Style)      Origin: Luxembourg	Locustas Assas sic Facies (Roast Lobster is Made Thus)      Origin: Roman
Jungle Curry Prawns      Origin: Thailand	Krill Sweet Potato Cakes      Origin: Fusion	Logosta Assada (Roasted Lobster)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau
Kaeng Khiao Wan (Thai Green Curry)      Origin: Thailand	Krokèchi (Prawn Croquettes)      Origin: Aruba	Lourenço Marques Prawns      Origin: South Africa
Kaeng Phet Pet Yang (Thai Red Roast Duck Curry)      Origin: Thailand	Kyet tha Kar la Thar Hin (Chicken and Squash Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Lucky Prawns and Lotus Seeds      Origin: China
Kajaik (Sudanese fish stew)      Origin: South Sudan	La Salsa de Cacahuete (Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Maelgi Rhost a Saws Bara Lawr (Roast Monkfish and Laverbread Sauce)      Origin: Welsh
Kakrar Jhal (Bengali Crab Curry)      Origin: India	Laksa      Origin: Malaysia	Maffi Hakko Bangtura (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea
Kansiyé avec 'Mafe' (Smoked Chicken in Peanut Sauce with Mashed Plantains)      Origin: Guinea	Laksa Paste      Origin: Singapore	Mala Long Xia (Chinese Spicy Crayfish)      Origin: China
Kare Kare      Origin: Philippines	Laksa Paste      Origin: Malaysia	Mala Long Xia (Chinese Spicy Crayfish)      Origin: China
Kari Ikan (Fish Curry)      Origin: Malaysia	Laksa Paste II      Origin: Malaysia	Malaysian Goat Rendang      Origin: Malaysia
Kari Ikan (Malaysian Fish Curry)      Origin: Malaysia	Langouste à la Vanille (Lobsters with Vanilla Sauce)      Origin: Comoros	Malaysian Kapitan Chicken      Origin: Malaysia
Kari Koko (Seychellois King Prawn and Coconut Curry)      Origin: Seychelles	Langoustes grillées au beurre vanillé (Grilled Lobsters with Vanilla Butter)      Origin: New Caledonia	Malaysian Laksa      Origin: Malaysia
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Aruba	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Sint Maarten	Malaysian Lamb Rendang      Origin: Malaysia
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Bonaire	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Saint Barthelemy	Mallow Leaf Gumbo      Origin: Britain
Karko Stobá (Queen Conch Stew)      Origin: Curacao	Langoustes grillées sauce antillaise (Grilled Spiny Lobster with Antillean Sauce)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Mandarin Prawns      Origin: Fusion
Karrísúpa (Icelandic Curry Soup)      Origin: Iceland	Langoustines bretonnes sautées au beurre salé (Breton langoustines sautéed in salted butter)      Origin: France	Mangalorean Prawn Sukka      Origin: India
Katakou au Poisson Frais (Palm Soup Base with Fresh Fish)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Lao Tam Som (Lao Green Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos	Mangoé Rafalari (Spicy Mango Stew)      Origin: Guinea
Ke'lagu'en Uhang (Prawns and Peppers)      Origin: Guam	Laska      Origin: Malaysia	Manhattan Seafood Stew      Origin: American
Ke'lagu'en Uhang (Prawns and Peppers)      Origin: Northern Mariana Islands	Le cassoulet de la mer à la bretonne (Breton seaside cassoulet)      Origin: France	Masak Lemak (Cabbage in Coconut Milk Gravy)      Origin: Malaysia
Kedjenou      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Le Chao Men (New Caledonian Chaw Mein)      Origin: New Caledonia	Massaman Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Kejenou avec Agouti (Kejenou with Cane Rat)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Le Ndolé Camerounais (Cameroonian Ndolé)      Origin: Cameroon	Matapa      Origin: Mozambique
Kekefia (Plantain Pottage)      Origin: Nigeria	Lemon Chilli Chicken      Origin: Cocos Islands	Matapa de Abóbora (Pumpkin Matapa)      Origin: Mozambique
Kelenkelen (Fish with Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Cameroon	Lemongrass Curry      Origin: Cambodia	Matsavo (Pumpkin Leaf and Peanut Flour Stew)      Origin: Mozambique
Khayan thee Hnat (Burmese Stuffed Aubergine Curry)      Origin: Myanmar	Liberian Prawn Bisque      Origin: Liberia	Mauritian Prawn Curry      Origin: Mauritius
Khichiri Prawn Sauce      Origin: India	Liberian Spaghetti      Origin: Liberia	Mazavaroo      Origin: Mauritius
King Prawn Pathia      Origin: Britain	Liberian-style Fried Cabbage      Origin: Liberia	Mbanga Soup (Palm Nut Soup)      Origin: Cameroon
Kingklip and Prawn Biryani      Origin: South Africa	Lime-cured New Caledonian Blue Prawn Salad      Origin: New Caledonia	Mbolo      Origin: Equatorial Guinea
Kiribati Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Kiribati	Lobster and Clotted Cream Tart      Origin: Britain	Mchuzi wa Kamba (Zanzibar Prawn Curry)      Origin: Tanzania
Kontomire Stew (Cocoyam Leaf Stew)      Origin: Ghana	Lobster Croquets      Origin: Britain
Korean Fish Cakes      Origin: Korea	Lobster Curry      Origin: Britain

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